Anyone have this mental block w rabbit meat?

[Zab]

I'm not used to eating rabbit. Actually, I got my first meat rabbit breeders before I tried the meat (it's hard to come by here).
Never had processed either.. I thought that would be the tough part.. Not that it's easy, but it's working out.

So.. I can raise the longears, dispatch them, butcher them, mince parts of them, bag them and put them in the freezer. I can cook them, but then I can't eat it. I feel naseous if I try.

HOWEVER.... if I raise them, dispatch, mince, bag, freeze and let someone ELSE cook it... it tastes wonderful. Had a couple of bad dinners untill I realized that.

It confuse me a bit.. I usually handle and cook raw meat with no problem at all. For goodness sake I even eat raw meat if it's just that. But not the rabbit. It just.. doesn't work.

It's not that I feel bad, or that I think ''aw, this was Hopper.." No matter if I think about poor Hopper or is chatting away with a friend notthinking about it at all, the piece just grows in my mouth and get some sort of bi-flavour making me sick. I would blame my cooking But my family and friends like it just the same.
Sofie made a lovely minced rabbit meat pie and it was great. I tried the same recipy... and couldn't eat more than a few bites even thogh I tried my best to force it down. And I'm usually not picky about my food either, I'm the one getting myself used to all sorts of gross drinks or what not for the sake of health (dried nettles and algae or concentrated ACV and stuff) while my friends stare in disbelief once they tried.

I've tried different sorts.. if I make it myself, minced and with lots of veggies mixed into it works a bit better. If anyone else does it I can chew off the bones no problem.

I'm sure I'll get past it once I've had a few nice meals... but is this common? To get through the butchering process just to find out you can't actually cook it and then eat it?

Todays dinner was delicious. BBQd rabbit and rabbit burger with potatoes and natural yoghurt. A bit low on the vegetebles but then again.. I'm raised on meat, boiled potatoes and sauce. If I ever got a veggie to it it was a piece of tomato. I like veggies, and I eat a lot of them but not always to dinner
Of course, I wasn't the one cooking

 

[tailwagging]

yup
same here. I casserole it but still don't eat much. I do eat it, just not a lot. I have hubby, dogs and pigs that will though. for me it is the small of it cooking. good way to stay on a diet =)

 

[dangerbunny]

My mom would leave the fryers in the freezer until she forgot which one they were.

 

[Cottie]

I've noticed this with a lot of people "in our age group", Zab (I think we're roughly similar in age?). Myself included. I can go to Wal-mart and buy a chicken. I can cook it and eat it no problem.

If I (well, fiancee) kills it, butcher it, prepare it, cook it and eat it...I get a little queasy. I think it has less to do with the meat and more to do with the 100% self-sufficiency of getting the meat. Zero oversight is a weird thing. No one approved that meat as safe, it's all on me (or you, as the case may be).

 

[DogCatMom]

I can't remember which thread I said this on last week, so I'll say it here, too: I have what I call "Fuzzy Bunny Syndrome." I can't think about eating "fuzzy bunnies" myself. But I have a cat with Irritable Bowel Disorder who's been sick *again* recently (thanks to the manufacturer of one of the last REAL canned cat foods changing to cheaper crud in the canned food) and a large Bernese Mtn. Dog who's going through the tortures of the d*mned with a terrible hot spot on his face and right ear.

Raw diets or, at least, real-meat based diets are often recommended for animals whose health is at risk. I could feed my cats (three in all; no way to feed one the "good stuff" without feeding all of 'em!) and my dog rabbit, I'm pretty sure, without weird reactions. "Mr. Dog" has refused raw meat (chicken, turkey, beef) in the past, so who knows about rabbit? My girl Berner, who died on July 25, refused raw food all her life except for chicken and turkey necks; we had to ever-so-slightly warm up the meat for her. A very light sauté so that it satisfied Her Ladyship's definition of "cooked" was required. Mr. Dog may have the same requirement.

If so, fine. If I can afford rabbit, that's what they'll get. If not, it'll be chicken at the ethnic market, or maybe off-cuts of beef (cats really do not eat all that much on a pounds-per-day basis).

But I'll pass; none for me, thanks. And if DH wants to eat some rabbit, he'll need to do it when I'm not around, just like I'm pretty sure he does with pork. (I run a non-pork kitchen, as far as I know....)

 

[dayna]

Hmmm. I butchered and ate the rabbit on the same day. After cuddling. I love the wonderfulness of home grown loving meat.

 

[ckcs]

First off the boiled potatoes and yogurt, I am going to have to try that. The plate looks delicious. I'm also raised on meat and potatoes lol. As for eating rabbit I'm not sure as I have never tried it. My father who has raised chicken and rabbits at various times has told me he can't eat it. After he butchers it and stuff he can't disassociate himself enough to eat it. I know he has eaten both rabbit and chicken before and with the rabbit it was someone else who cooked it. He has no problem with the butchering but once he tries to cook it his mind just goes wonky and he can't eat it.

 

[Secuono]

Meat I butchered I'm always a little off about, but it's because I wonder if I froze it soon enough and all that.
DH hates to eat our chicken's eggs, says they came from their butts. But he likes things 'with a touch of bleach', you know, store foods. Won't eat out veggies and fruits, lol.
But home rabbit is good. =D

 

[Zab]

Thanks, good to know I'm not alone

I just find it stange that it goes down so smoothly if I'm not the one cooking.. I still know exactly what it is and I watched at least parts of the cooking.. :lol: I guess they all add some secret ingrediet when I'm not looking...

 

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

My husband is the same way, sorta. He can't partake in the slaughter/butcher process... if he does, he just can't choke it down. He just wants to know that the deed has in fact been done, and that I washed my 'tools'. Beyond that, he doesn't want to know anything. I also can't leave a carcass whole in the fridge if it's meant for us. I can do it with the buns that are destined for the animals, though.

I, personally, don't have an issue with it.

 

[Zab]

Well.. that's different, yet.. I'd understand it better if I couldn't eat what I've killed, but that's not it. I can kill it and eat it.. but I can't eat what I've cooked.. That's the part I do't get..

 

[arachyd]

It just sounds like you need a disconnect from live rabbit to plate. Having someone else prepare it helps you to do that. It may pass or you could teach others in the family to cook it.

 

[coffeenutdesigns]

I love to eat food I've raised myself, but I eat less of anything I cook, whether I butchered it or not. Something about the food preparation and cooking process satisfies that carnal need to feed myself and I eat much less than food other people cook. It has nothing to do with queasiness or reservations about where the food came from. It's so weird, the whole time I'm cooking I'm so excited about the meal and then when I serve it I'm satisfied that it is prepered and then barely eat any of it.

 

[zee]

I thought it was just me.

 

[PSFAngoras]

I have no qualms a out it. I do have issues with dispatching my breeders if I have to for health reasons, but I suck it up and do it. No problems eating them though. I did get a rabbit from the pet store once that was no longer wanted, and I processed it out ready to go, but couldn't get myself over the idea that I had no idea how it was raised and whether or not it had been given antibiotics and medications ( it was an older rabbit), so I ended up not eating it because of that.

 

[trinityoaks]

After knowing how commercially raised meat is handled, I feel MUCH safer with my own rabbits! I know EXACTLY how they were raised, how they were butchered, how the meat was handled afterward.

My mental block right now is dreading dealing with all of those tiny bones!

 

[NOrabeets]

Last night I cooked my own rabbits for the first time. They were deboned, cut into nuggets and fried in an attempt to make them not look like rabbit. My girlfriend did eat some, but certainly didn't eat as much as she typically would. It was a little weird for me as well, and I didn't eat as much as I usually do. They tasted great...I just think that most modern Americans and Canadians are raised completely disassociated with the meat that they eat. Every kid knows where their meat comes from, but they don't usually get to meet their meat until it's packaged. Urban/suburban life and cute cartoons/stories have turned us into wussies. I'm certain that the oddity of it will not last long for us. I do plan to keep deboning them for my girlfriend's benefit...tonight will be our first rabbit stew.

 

[Cottie]

I just made our first meal from home raised, slaughtered, cleaned, cooked and canned meat (chicken). It was perfect, no odd smell or taste and I made ravioli.

Half an hour later, I'm starting to feel a little nauseous. I know it can't be any kind of food poisoning. I cooked the filling so well anything living in there was demolished, and then cooked it again during boiling. I think it has a lot to do with the lack of "oversight" in the meat prep. No "expert" declared it safe.

It's a very weird mental thing. My kids are having no problems with it, but they're still young enough that they haven't been inundated with the government's idea of "food safety."

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I'm feeling a little emotional today...I had to dispatch and butcher a "favorite" rabbit and today we are cooking him. I felt a little sad when I got the parted-out rabbit chunks into a pot...this was my pet as much as anything. But I know I will enjoy dinner tonight, to help make it less unpleasant we're making my favorite...BBQ pulled rabbit.

I have started putting the rabbit's name on the packages in the freezer...for some reason that helps. It reminds me of the gifts that animal has given me, and I can remind myself that their death was swift and painless...that helps, too.

Now, if we were talking hunted animals...I can (and often do) crave venison after a day of butchering. My dad can't stomach it for at least a week though...so deer-butchering nights are also pizza nights. :roll:

 

[AmysMacdog]

Awwww I hope you feel better soon RJ. My mom never could eat homegrown meat and its a shame because she has missed some of the best tasting meat we've ever had.